I have questions

  Having done a little reading and research about this student loan forgiveness I'm left with questions. Thousands of people are having their loan, or a portion of their loan forgiven which means someone else will have to pay that back. Forgiveness doesn't make the loan disappear; it just places the burden elsewhere. The money was borrowed from the taxpayers of the United States and must be paid back. Perhaps the plan is to borrow some more money from another country to satisfy that debt, a common tactic employed these days. We do owe about 6.8 trillion dollars to other nations. The balance of the 34.6 trillion-dollar debt is public debt, what we the people owe to our own government. 

 Now if we borrow that money from another nation to satisfy that debt, we most certainly will pay interest on that loan. That's the reason people or nations lend money you know, to make more money. Loans are not charity. We, the United States of America, are currently paying about 79 million dollars a day in interest to China alone! We paid 659 billion in interest to foreign countries last year and it is projected we will pay 859 billion this year. This loan forgiveness adds an additional 7.4 billion dollars to the debt. Will it be foreign debt? Or is it to be domestic/public debt. Does that matter? We are currently paying 479 billion in interest on the public debt. Basically, every American is paying interest on their own money. 

 I won't pretend I really understand how all this high finance works. The more I read about it the more confused I become. I do understand completely how interest payments work. I understand the reason for that interest. We all know the value of a dollar always gets less and seldom becomes more. We call that the economy. When the economy is strong the dollar holds its' value and when weak it decreases. Interest is an attempt to cover, at a minimum, the depreciated value of the dollar. So, if I borrowed 10,000 today and pay it back over a period of time the one loaning the money is hoping to get that sum back plus interest. That includes the federal government. The government was counting on that money to be returned to the treasury with interest! It makes no difference at all if it is an individual or a nation that loaned the money, the intent was the same. 

 Okay, so we decided to just forgive those loans or portions of those loans. The thing is, we aren't forgiving all the loans, only select loans. The criteria is spelled out. I found it interesting that the loans being forgiven are ones where under 12,000 dollars for college was borrowed and you have been making payments for at least ten years. All borrowers will have their loan forgiven if they have made payments for twenty and twenty-five years depending upon if they have loans for graduate schools. Thing is the interest rate on those loans are all below 8% which isn't all that much. Private loans are usually under 15%.

  So, how is it that the interest accrued to the point where forgiveness is justified? Could it be that the loans being forgiven aren't really an issue at all? Could it be that this loan forgiveness is really just a political ploy to influence the voters? 92% of student loan debt is held by the government, about 1.7 trillion dollars. This advertised amount of 7.4 billion in forgiveness is just a drop in the proverbial bucket. It is really just a feel good measure. You have to have been making payments for at least ten years for that loan to be forgiven. Twenty and twenty-five years for graduate studies. It isn't doing anything for those currently attending any college or university. 

 As I said I won't pretend to understand how all this works but if someone borrowed less than 10,000 dollars to get a college education to obtain that education, that degree, and has been unable to pay that back in ten years or more, I have questions. Cars cost at least twenty thousand, a loan is taken out, and that is expected to be repaid in five years. No loan forgiveness on that. The median cost of a home today is 450,000 dollars, a loan is taken out, paid back in thirty years. Heck you can finance a I phone for two years. My question is, how come the loan wasn't paid back? The interest isn't all that much. 10,000 dollars borrowed at a rate of 5.45% for ten years equals a monthly payment of 108.28 a month. And these college graduates can't manage that? I have questions. 

 The bottom line is really a simple one. We all borrow money; finance the things we want or need. The reason for borrowing the money has nothing to do with the repayment of that money. Governments and individuals loan money to make money. You are responsible for the repayment of that loan. It doesn't make a bit of difference if you have buyer's remorse. You agreed to the terms, signed the documents and entered into a legal agreement.